Men and women, combat veterans and untested officers, logistics specialists and senior sergeants. Each Marine among the surge of more than 11,000 from Camp Pendleton and supporting bases heading to southern Afghanistan this spring is vital. Their roles differ, but the mission unites them as the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force assumes command of ground-combat operations in a Taliban stronghold.

The San Diego Union-Tribune will profile three of those Marines during their deployments.

THE FATHER FIGURE: 'You get attached to these young Marines.'

It hasn’t always been easy for Sgt. Maj. Neil O’Connell to balance the needs of his family at home and his family of Marines. But after more than three decades in the Corps, he has had a lot of practice.

O’Connell, 51, enlisted in 1977.

He spent 25 of the previous 44 months in Iraq. As he prepared last month to deploy to Afghanistan with a vanguard of Marines from the Headquarters Group, O’Connell’s wife and daughters carried on.

“We try to keep things relatively stable and calm. You can’t dwell,” said Linda O’Connell, a vice president with UnionBank. “Life keeps going around the deployments. They don’t stop, so we don’t.”

Meghan, 16, said: “We’re used to it. Not to sound rude.” Cara, 12, might take her father’s absences the hardest, her mother said, but Cara denied it.

O’Connell has reached the highest enlisted rank in the Corps. “Supposedly he is going to retire after this,” his wife said. “We’ll see. Eventually you get old and they trade you in for the newer model.”

“If we weren’t at war,” he would retire, he said. “But the Marine Corps is going into Afghanistan. You get attached to these young Marines. They are the men and women bringing it to the enemy every day.”

Sgt. Maj. Neil O'Connell spent 25 of the previous 44 months in Iraq and is now serving in Afghanistan. Weighing on him most is that he won't see his grandson's birth.— Eduardo Contreras / Union-Tribune

+Read Caption

Sgt. Maj. Neil O'Connell spent 25 of the previous 44 months in Iraq and is now serving in Afghanistan. Weighing on him most is that he won't see his grandson's birth.
— Eduardo Contreras / Union-Tribune

The one thing weighing on O’Connell is that he won’t be there for the birth of his son Brandon’s first child, a boy. “You miss a lot. You have to depend on them to be strong,” O’Connell said.

The same is true in the field. As the sergeant major for the Headquarters Group, O’Connell oversees subordinate units — including air naval-gunfire and intelligence — and security for Camp Leatherneck in Helmand province.

He’s also a father figure for young Marines, helping them focus on the mission. “There are young couples still learning what marriage is. You tell them, ‘Your wife is going to be just fine.’ The ability to maintain discipline as a fighting force is critical.”

Although he’s the voice of experience, “it isn’t what you did; it is what you are doing now,” O’Connell said. “If something is coming down, you can’t just wave as they go out to battle.”

A few dozen well-wishers crowded into O’Connell’s Tierrasanta home for his going-away party. O’Connell grilled ribs and tri-tips despite a swollen jaw from a double root canal. He sipped Guinness and snapped pictures with neighbors and former commanders.

His guests shook their heads, saying, “There he goes again.”

THE TRUCK DRIVER: 'It feels like we're just going to the rifle range.'

Pfc. Jesse Nielsen, 19, has left for Afghanistan, where she will drive a 7-ton supply truck. "I hate tiny cars," she said.— Eduardo Contreras / Union-Tribune

Pfc. Jesse Nielsen hobbled into the recruiting office last year with a broken ankle. She had just turned 18.

“You want to join?” the recruiter asked, casting a skeptical look at her crutches.

Her father hated the idea, initially. Her boyfriend said it was him or the Marines. Mom was all for it.

“She knew what she wanted to do with her life. She was so much farther than I was at her age,” Kim Nielsen said.

Money was tight while Nielsen grew up on the outskirts of Tucson. When work was scarce, the family stayed with friends.

Nielsen’s mother now works the night shift at Walmart, and her father drives trucks.

Kim Nielsen taught her daughter to push through tough times. “She wouldn’t show weakness in front of me. When things go wrong, we focus on the future,” Nielsen said.

During the third time climbing the rope at boot camp in Parris Island, S.C., her muscles trembled. She thought she would fall, but the drill instructor bellowed, “You better get up there!”

Nielsen persevered when she didn’t think she could. Later, she repaid the favor for another recruit.

Her bunkmate turned to her amid the tree line atop the 60-foot rappelling tower and said, “I can’t do this.” Nielsen talked her down. “You look at me the whole time,” she said.

Nielsen, now 19, joined the 1st Marine Logistics Group at Camp Pendleton in December. In Afghanistan, she will drive the 7-ton trucks that carry a lifeline of supplies.

Her father had let her shift a semi-truck at age 12 and taught her to shoot rifle shells off distant rocks.

She’s a natural handling the hulking military trucks. “She is not afraid of anything,” said her supervisor, Sgt. John Howard. “With new Marines, sometimes they are a little intimidated.”

Not Nielsen. “I hate tiny cars,” she said.

She will have one of the most dangerous jobs in the war zone. Despite air support, mine-clearing vehicles and ground firepower, the threat of roadside bombs is dire. These explosives are the No. 1 killer of U.S. troops.

“I am not going to let that scare me. I can’t break when I am needed,” Nielsen said.

On Thursday, less than a year after boot camp, Nielsen headed to Afghanistan. The war didn’t seem real yet. “It feels like we’re just going to the rifle range,” she said.

THE INFANTRY OFFICER: 'By taking care of my Marines, he would be proud.'

1st Lt. Michael K. Chand Jr. has prepared for his first combat mission more or less since he could talk. Chand, a San Diego native, is the executive officer of Lima Company for the 3rd Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment.

His parents met at Camp Pendleton. As a boy, Chand loved to dress up in his dad’s gear. His Halloween costume inevitably involved black cammie paint smeared under his eyes.

Sally Chand, a retired intelligence officer, recalls how her son at 5 years old would remove his clothes from the dresser each week and refold them with military precision. “He always tries to do the very best that he can. He is not satisfied with the norm,” she said.

Chand was commissioned as an officer in December 2006 after obtaining degrees from the University of California San Diego and San Diego State University. His father, Michael Chand Sr.; maternal grandfather, Ramon Provencio; and mother — all retired Marines — each pinned a gold bar signifying his rank on his uniform.

“That was one of the best days of my life,” Chand said.

After nearly two years of training, Chand, 26, says that he and the battalion are “more than ready” for Afghanistan.

His job is to be the hammer of discipline, making sure every piece of equipment is accounted for and every “t” is crossed in reports.

Capt. John Kenneley, his company commander, admires Chand’s “extreme attention to detail” and the way he keeps the platoon commanders hopping: “He is rotten to those lieutenants!”

At least one-quarter of Lima Company has gone to war. Now Chand will be tested when the battalion deploys this month. A bad call could lead to casualties, and he takes that responsibility seriously.

“Every day you need to look in the mirror,” he said. “You need to be both mentally and physically tough. You need to be able to show your Marines you will never quit.”

Lt. Col. Benjamin Watson, the battalion commander, said the challenge in a counterinsurgency environment is for Marines to judge when to extend a hand and when to pull the trigger. As for Chand, “I expect him to set the example, to get them thinking not only ‘can I shoot, but should I shoot’ — and shoot within the rules of engagement.”

After advanced combat training, fitness tests and drafting of last wills and testaments, Chand learned he had one more important task.

He had to lay his father to rest.

The elder Chand had retired after a 26-year career with the Marine Corps and returned to Iraq as a security contractor. His convoy was ambushed in 2007. After his funeral, the family was told he might be alive after all, held in captivity.

After years of uncertainty, his father’s remains were sent home from Iraq on Monday. Chand knelt in his dress blues in the church pews and walked with one white-gloved hand resting on the American flag draped over his father’s casket.

The elder Chand was among the first troops to invade Afghanistan after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. Now his son will follow.

“I think about him every day. That’s what helps me to be successful,” Chand said. “By taking care of my Marines, he would be proud.”